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Budget documents state that ‘a talk or variety program’ that gets the credit ‘must be filmed before a studio audience’ of at least 200, have a production budget of at least $30 million or run at least $10 million in capital expenses — and has to have been shot outside New York for at least 5 seasons prior to relocation. New York already gives companies producing movies or television series in the state a tax credit equal to 30% of production costs. It costs the state $420 million in revenue a year.

Americans' saving more, spending less By MARTIN CRUTSINGER AP Economics Writer Published: Sunday, Feb. 01, 2009 WASHINGTON -- Americans are hunkering down and saving more. For a recession-battered economy, it couldn't be happening at a worse time. Economists call it the "paradox of thrift." What's good for individuals - spending less, saving more - is bad for the economy when everyone does it. On Friday, the government reported Americans' savings rate, as a percentage of after-tax incomes, rose to 2.9 percent in the last three months of 2008. That's up sharply from 1.2 percent in the third quarter and less...

Red ink in Washington is invariably an excuse for raising taxes, so perhaps falling deficits should be a reason to cut them. The Bush Administration's midsession budget review, released yesterday, estimates that the deficit will have shrunk by more than 50% in three years: to $205 billion in the fiscal year ending this September from $413 billion in 2004. As a share of the economy, the budget deficit is expected to fall to 1.5%, well below the 40-year average of 2.4%. Buoyant tax revenues are the major reason for this deficit reduction. So far this year tax receipts are up...

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The Dow industrials ($INDU$INDU ) crossed over the 13,000 level in intraday trading for the first time Tuesday, about six months after besting the 12,000 mark. The Dow had topped 12,000 for the first time in intraday trading on Oct. 18 -- it closed above that mark on Oct. 19 -- and it took 127 sessions for the blue chip barometer to reach the next 1,000-point milestone. The Dow has now gained 4.3% since the end of 2006 and 15% over the last year

NEW YORK, Nov 29 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks gained on Tuesday after stronger-than-expected consumer confidence data lifted hopes about holiday spending, while a rise in orders for the largest manufactured goods boosted industrial stocks, including aircraft maker Boeing Inc. (BA.N: Quote, Profile, Research) Also, the Standard & Poor's index of steel makers was up 4.6 percent, and shares in U.S. Steel Corp. (X.N: Quote, Profile, Research) rose 7.9 percent to $45.83 on the New York Stock Exchange after J.P. Morgan placed the steel maker's stock on its focus list, saying it was undervalued. [ID:nN29193412] Boeing shares gained 1.4 percent to...

SYDNEY (AFX) - Federal treasurer Peter Costello is expected to announce Tuesday evening a fiscal 2005 budget surplus of 7-10 bln aud as soaring company profits and a record low umemployment rate boost the government's coffers, economists said. They expect Costello to put his year to June 2006 budget surplus estimate at around 4.5 bln aud. At its mid-year economic review, the Treasury department estimated the budget surplus for the current financial year at 6.2 bln aud, or 0.7 pct of GDP, up from the original forecast of 2.4 bln aud made in last year's May federal budget. While some...

Extra! 7 reasons the job market is about to take off http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/invest/extra/P60611.asp Here's hope for those who've lost jobs or worry they will. A better economy is unfolding right now, and the Great American Jobs Machine is about to kick into high gear. By Charles Lieberman Unemployed? Worried about your job security? Scared by the negative stuff you read in the papers and hear on television? Most of these concerns reflect the recent past. But I'm here to tell you there's strong reason to believe the Great American Jobs Machine is about to crank up yet again. In fact, there...

WASHINGTON -- Retail sales surged in July, apparently boosted by tax cuts and the peak of the mortgage refinancing boom, and adding to the evidence the long-awaited recovery has begun. Sales rose by 1.4% in July from June, the Commerce Department said Wednesday, and sales gains in May and June were both revised upward. Excluding a 3.2% gain in auto-dealer sales, retail receipts would have risen by a still-robust 0.8%. Economists had pegged the overall gain at 1%, according to a survey by Dow Jones and CNBC. The implementation of the federal tax, signed into law earlier this year, helped...